Holiday Hustle and Bustle

I feel a bit guilty about not blogging, but then again, I don't. We've been so busy with the holidays that blogging just hasn't been a priority. I am sure most of you would agree!

Today I found the time and energy to blog because today is my first Michigan snow day! That means I will have 11 days off for Christmas break instead of 10. Soooooooo nice! In Carrollton, snow days were lots of fun because I could sleep in, and by 10 the snow would be nearly melted so I could go shopping and be out and about. Here, it's snowing 1 inch an hour. We have about 5 or 6 now on top of the 5 from the other day, and it just keeps coming!

I'm pretty proud of myself. I resisted the temptation to sleep all afternoon and woke up and made my husband waffles. After he left for work, I did take a 45 minute nap but woke up and played with Moose and gave him a bath. I also took out the trash, cleaned the bathroom, packed up Steve's clothes, and I am in the process of making cookies.

Every snow day I have the urge to bake. Because of this, I always stock up on baking supplies when I know the snow days are coming. Today, I went traditional and made the plain ol' chocolate chip cookies using the recipe from the back of the bag. I figure I will take some to my dad tonight.

We're heading to New Castle for Christmas as soon as Steve gets home from work. Of course, I am not ready, but I have a few hours. Moose is coming with us as well as his giant crate. He's so big he's a bit of a burdon, but he's so sweet and fun I couldn't leave him at home. We're really lucky my parents like him and are ok with having our "bull" in their "china shop."

We're staying 2 nights in New Castle and then going to Betsy and Kyle's to have Christmas with Bets, Kyle, Owen, Kar, and Justin. I'm really excited about the menu betsy e-mailed me! She's awesome. Moose will get to meet Linus as well. It should be interesting! A BIG black dog with a LITTLE white dog. :)

Christmas cards have been sent, packages are wrapped, bracelets and bookmarks have been made, and dog bones are now (white) chocolate covered.

It's time to celebrate the holidays! :) Merry Christmas!

(Here is our Christmas card this year. My talented husband drew it for me.)

1/2 Year Anniversary!

Today is our 1/2 year anniversary! It's hard to believe 6 months ago we were married. Since then, we've moved into an apartment, moved out of an apartment, moved into a new house, started 2 new jobs, bought a dog, and started to celebrate our first holiday season. We're having so much fun!

Friday, Steve and I headed to the tree farm to pick out our Christmas tree. It was 18 degrees outside. We had the tree picked out, shaken, wrapped, and loaded in 10 minutes. Now, we realize maybe we should have looked it over a little better. It's pretty dry and will look like Charlie Brown's tree by Christmas....oh well!

Last night, we went to Steve's company Christmas party. It was a very fancy occasion with great food. It was nice to meet all of the "characters" that are in Steve's work stories.

Over the weekend, it has snowed quite a bit. I had to take a picture of "White Fang" in the snow for Karla. When Justin and Karla came to visit, Kar panicked for a second because she thought the husky in our backyard was a wolf. Since then, he has been referred to as White Fang. Now, in the snow, he looks even more wolflike.

Moose got his first Christmas present this week. I bought him a new collar for Christmas, and I was trying to save it for Christmas morning. I know, I know, dogs don't know it's Christmas, but, anyway, I had to give it to him early. He has grown out of his "medium" collar that he wore as a new puppy. Now, he's wearing a "large." Hopefully, that will last him a while.

Since today is our anniversary, I decided to make Steve his favorite cookies. The recipe is from a cookie cookbook by Betty Crocker (or her people...is Betty alive?) that Betsy got us for a wedding shower gift.

Giant Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 c packed brown sugar

1/2 c butter or margarine, softened

1/2 c shortening

1/4 c honey

1 egg

2 c flour

1t baking soda

1/2 t baking powder

1/4 t salt

1 package semisweet choc chips

1 package almond brickle chips (Heath)

Heat oven to 350.

Beat brown sugar, butter, shortening, honey and egg in large bowl. Stir in flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Stir in chocolate chips and heath chips.

Bake 12 to 14 minutes. Enjoy! :)

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

We just finished up our fantastic tour of 3 Thanksgivings, but, here, it looks a whole lot more like Christmas. Yesterday, we finally got around to raking our leaves, and, 4 hours later, our yard looked great! Today, mother nature has already dumped a couple of inches of snow on us, and there is more to come.

Yesterday, Moose spent the morning outside with us. We raked while he scoured the "woods" for whatever he could eat. I won't go into the details on what he ate, but I will tell you that he slept the rest of the day (totally not like him). I'm sure he had quite a tummy ache.

I headed to Hobby Lobby to get some cheap stuff to decorate our house. When I got home, I figured Moose would have been ready to get into all of my decorations and stuff, but instead, here was my view from my "ready to decorate" tree.

Poor Moose was feeling too bad to cause trouble! So I did this...

We haven't picked out our "big" tree from the tree farm yet, but I had a couple small fake trees to decorate. This one is in our foyer. I LOVED searching hobby lobby for decorations for this little tree. I may have gone a little overboard. :)

I already had the decorations for this tree. This one is in my kitchen so I used all of my cookie cutters along with some leftover wedding ribbon. :) I figured Steve wouldn't be a fan of the pink, but he didn't mind because it was FREE! :)

I have a place to hang my stockings...just in time!

Last, but not least....a Moose update. He's 60 lbs now, and we have found 2 baby teeth that he has lost. I don't have a picture to show you how much he has grown because as Steve was watching him in Steve's "hunting room" Moose got in trouble. This is where I found him...Puppy Jail!

If you give a Moose a doughnut...

...he'll want to eat the bag.
Here he is! He's almost 4 months old! :)

"Where are we going to hang our stockings?!?!"

When we were buying our house, I woke Steve up in the middle of the night with this question. I fell in love with our fireplace and never really realized that it didn't have a mantle until we were in the process of buying our house. Luckily, I have a VERY handy husband. His answer was, "I'll make some." Yes, he made me mantleS...plural. :)

Here is what it looked like before we moved in.
Here it is now! :) I'm not completely satisfied with the "stuff" on the mantles, but that will be changed for Christmas anyway.

My wife is making me do this.........a big thanks to whoever started this foolishness

7 things about me that you prolly don't know, or you might, but that just means you're special, hahaha:

1. I am walking proof that just because you can still use it, doesn't mean it's not broke. At some point in my childhood I broke one of the bones in my left wrist, but figured, hey I can still use it, so it's fine. Also at some point in my childhood, I broke one of the bones in my right knee, but figured, hey I can still walk, it's all good. Neither time was it all good. Freshman year of high school I had to have surgery on my wrist to straighten it. They took bone out of my hip, cut the bone in my forearm, put the hip bone in, and covered it with a titanium plate(The doctor's name was Ragu Elleru, hahaha). My first year of grad school I had the same surgery done to my leg.

2. I have a mind like a steel trap. I have honestly never studied for a test, other than the 10 minutes before it, in my life, and with a 3.97 in high school, a 3.3 in undergrad, and a 3.8 in grad school, i'd say it all worked out alright. I can still name enough people from my first grade baseball team to fill every position, among other ridiculously abstract facts, just ask megan, it annoys her, hahaha.

3. If I were to ever just snap one day and end up in the looney bin, it would be because of the sounds people make when they eat. If I am also eating, I can handle it, but if I'm not, my whole body tenses up and I just want to flip out from having to listen to people slurp and crunch on food. And if you chew with your mouth open, I want to punch you right in the throat.

4. As you prolly do know, I love to hunt/ just shoot stuff, but I have never killed a deer with my bow, and I have never shot a coyote.

5. I have the balance of a drunken 6 month old baby with one leg. Me and megan have contests to see who can stand on one leg the longest, but they don't last much longer than 5 seconds, seems like she'd let me win one of these days.

6. If I had to do the whole school thing over again, I would be a lawyer. Since I can remember so many obscure facts, I'm pretty skilled at finding loopholes in anything, and it would pay a lot more than this architecture/structural engineering foolishness.

7. Even though I grew up working construction for my dad since I was under 10, heights are not my greatest friend (see #5). I can deal with it, and have never not done anything because I was scared or anything, they just make me a bit uneasy.

.........and that is my contribution to this blog tomfoolery

-WOODZ

Moose's New Crib

Yesterday, Moose's Christmas present from my parents arrived in the mail. We were so excited about it because now we can put him in the basement which is much warmer than the garage.

Somehow, as I was putting the blanket in, my loving husband locked us both in the crate. Although, it is definitely big enough for both of us to sleep in, I prefer our comfy sleepnumber bed.

Thanks again, Mom and Dad! We love it!

Moose

Moose is getting so big (and tired of these silly pictures...I think).

Meanwhile...we're getting beat up! When I took him to the vet, he told me that Boxers (the breed) aren't the only "boxers." Apparently, Great Danes are also natural boxers. Moose is the next Ali! Whenever he wants attention, he boxes. Whenever he is mad at us, he boxes. Whenever he is playing, he boxes. Last weekend, he was playing with Steve and hit him in the nose, AND he was trying to jump in my arm and hit me in the eye. Here are our wounds to prove it!

Snowed In!

Here's what our front yard looked like on Saturday!

So we weren't really snowed in last weekend, but it did snow, and I just didn't feel like going out in it much. Soooooo, I beaded! :) Here is my latest and greatest. You never know. This just might be your Christmas present.

I I started making bookmarks, and I LOVE to make them. I can make them pretty fast, and I get to use all kinds of different pretty beads and charms. These pictures are pretty crummy, sorry.

I am so mad these pictures didn't turn out well! This is for Sydney. I love the glass beads that look like penguins. :) She's a girly girl and a big fan of the dangly bracelets.

Let's just say I have been a little busy. The blue and white one in the middle is MINE! :) I am excited to wear it. I've made umteen million Colts bracelets like the one below for my mom to give as Christmas presents.

You know how I hate to sell, but I am heading to New Castle for Thanksgiving so if you want any bracelets or bookmarks, let me know! I'm going to keep making them as long as it keeps snowing. :)

1 Month to Live

Betsy tagged me to answer this question:
What would you do if you only had one month to live?

Well, I wasn't thinking very clearly at 7 AM because the first thing I thought was Have a baby! Duh! Uh...no...can't do that. Pregnancy lasts more than 1 month...that wouldn't work! So, that decides my #1 answer....

1. Regret not having children. In case there is any question, Steve and I are planning to have children ONE DAY but we just don't think now is the right time. Why not?!?! Who knows. It just doesn't seem like we are "ready." However, I think if I knew I was going to die in a month, I would REALLY regret not being able to experience being a mom.

2. On a lighter note...Steve and I would go on a vacation to Alaska. Now, if you read my last post about hating being cold, you may be thinking I am crazy. As much as I hate cold, I love 1. Buying new boots, jackets, hats, scarves, etc. 2. traveling 3. Seeing Steve completely happy. Steve has been to Alaska and wants to go back sooooo bad. I would love to travel there with him. He really is a great guy...when he's happy....just kidding. :)

3. I would have everyone join us at Clifty Falls State Park to have ANOTHER reception. Sure, the ceremony was great, but we both agree that the reception was the best time we have ever had. I would LOVE to dance the night away in a big white dress again.

So, there you go! Karla, Laurel, and Heather....your turn!

Marmaduke

Last night, we were clicking through the TV channels and we found a show on great danes. Did you know Scooby and Marmaduke are both great danes? Marmaduke is actually by a man that owns only great danes and illustrates all the funny stuff they do. It's funny to look at the Marmaduke comics now and think Moose does that!

Yesterday, I watched Steve's 4 year old cousin, Sydney. Syd and Moose are about the same size now. Moose is just a bit bigger. Sydney ate a couple cookies....and this is what happened! I keep telling her it's only going to get worse. :)

I have to share what my wonderful and talented hubby did for me. I wanted to start a money system in my classroom to give them rewards and consequences. So, Steve made me some Moose money.

All about Megan

I've been tagged by Karla to tell you 7 things about me you probably don't know. Seeing this post on other blogs got me thinking, and I was trying to be ready because I getting tagged was inevitable, but it may take all day to think of 7 things.

1.I am scared of big dogs. I remember being a little scared when I was little, and then it just grew. I will NEVER walk up to a big dog unless it is sitting by it's owner. Now that I have a big dog, I wonder if I will ever be scared of him. I don't think so. I hope not.

2. I love making beaded jewelry, but I hate to sell it. I would love to have people buy my stuff, but the idea of selling it for more than I paid to buy the supplies makes me feel horrible. That's why I mostly give it as gifts.

3. When I am cold, my nose gets cold first, and my hands almost never get cold.

4. I HATE to be cold. Today, as it is snowing outside....I am wondering why I thought it would be a good idea to move to Michigan. To me, being cold is almost painful.

5. I watch "stupid" tv (well, that's what Steve says). I love to watch cooking shows, craft shows, and anything on TLC.

6. I love burnt cheese. I always took the corner piece of my grandma's lasagna for the burnt cheese. :)

7. I say "rabbits, rabbits" the first day of every month. It's a thing in my family that goes back to who knows when. It's supposed to bring good luck. I don't know if it truly does or not, but it couldn't hurt.

There you go! :) Now, I have to tag three more people to do the same thing. I would like Kate, Laurel, and Betsy to tell a little about them. :)

Moose

Well friends, it's almost gun season, which means we don't need the fancy deer target in our backyard anymore. Don't worry, we have a new plan for tracking Moose's growth. (Yeah, I know it isn't that exciting for most of you, but we do have a few die-hard Monday morning followers, and this is a good way for us to keep track of it.)

Moose learned this week that his back legs are strong enough now to keep him up. He LOVES putting his paws on our shoulders. Soooo, here is our new growth chart. We're in trouble when he can put his paws on Steve's shoulders while he's standing.
This one is for my mom and dad! We're cheerin' on the Colts today!

What do you do when life hands you a long commute??

Buy a PURPLE car! Yup, that's what my husband did. In my last post, I mentioned that we had traded cars for the week to cut down on the $$ we shell out for gas. Well, you see, the Woods family is BIG and you can find someone in the family to help you out with nearly every problem you can have (insurance, nurse, doctor, judge...etc). Luckily, a soon-to-be addition to the Woods family is a car salesman.

Steve had talked to his soon-to-be cousin-in-law about finding him a "decent" car that gets "great" gas mileage for a "good" price. Well, he called this week and said he had a car that is in great condition, in our price range...only drawback....it's PURPLE (my least favorite color)! Well, we talked it over, and, since I am not going to be driving it, I didn't say much.

To make a long story a bit shorter...we have a PURPLE car! Steve will be driving it to and from work 5 days a week, and since gas is at $1.99 now, we hope to be saving some serious money. According to Steve, it will pay for itself in a year and a half. :)

Weekly Update

This week we tried something new. In order to save $$, we tried switching vehicles. Steve commutes 1hr to Kzoo every week while I drive 5 minutes down the road. It only made sense that I would drive the gas guzzling truck, and he would take my SUV. Well, folks.....that's not fun. It's what we're doing because it saves money, but we aren't a fan of it. So, that got me thinking....What do you do to save money? Is there anything that you are/aren't doing to save money during these "troubled economic times"?

Yesterday we went to watch 4 of Steve's cousins play football. Not all of them really played because it was H.S. playoffs, but it was a fun game, and they won!

The rest of the weekend has been spent shopping, doing laundry, working on the yard, mopping tile (we have lots of it), working on report cards, and, of course, playing with Moose. I weighed him yesterday and he now weighs 45 lbs. He's becoming quite the moose!

Kar worked so hard on these pillows, the least I could do is take a picture and post them! The pillows at the top are 2 of 4 solid brown pillows Kar made to put on my not-so-hot pink couch. Our room is trimmed in brown, and I thought the brown pillows might help break up the pink couch(ew). I think it has helped a little, and they are very nice for napping. The pictures below are from the couch upstairs. The oh-so-talented Kar ripped the ugly red fabric off the front and replaced it with the dark brown polka dot. I LOVE them, and they match the chairs I recovered.

THANKS KAR!

Weekly Update...Part 2

This morning, I did my weekly Sunday post which included a wonderful wedding gift we received from Steve's talented Aunt Jane. We were so excited about our quilt that we totally forgot about the gift Steve's (also super talented) Uncle Mick was making us. We got a call this evening from his Aunt Jenny (Mick's wife) saying that our gift was ready.

Isn't it awesome?! I am so excited to fill it with blankets for our guests. They're going to need them!

Speaking of needing blankets...here is where I was today. Most of the day I sat here with my beads around me making bracelets to sell. It was wonderful!

Weekly Update

This week was a busy one. The MEAP (state test) was ending at work and we are preparing for conferences. We also had McEducator Night at McDonalds! Yup. I had to work at McDonalds for 1 hour! The good thing was I didn't have to cook, clean, or exchange $$. All I had to do was hand out dorky hats to little kids.

It was a pretty crazy week here at the house as well. Our washer broke...again. So, we called in someone different to fix it. Luckily, it is fixed, and after 5 loads of laundry, we have clean clothes, sheets, and towels. We also had a guy come to our house and repair the invisible fence that was here when we bought the house. Right now, Moose isn't really making use of the fence. He would rather be by our side, but we know when he gets bigger and sees a turkey or a deer, we'll be glad we have the fence. I tried shocking myself (just to make sure I wasn't being cruel) and it isn't bad. I wouldn't say it is painful...just strange.

I weighed Moose and he weighs 40 pounds. Wow! He's doing so well at learning how to sit, shake, lay down, roll on his side (we're working on rolling over), and stay.

Moose won't be going to the farm tonight to play because it is a NASTY day. It's cold, windy, and drizzling rain. Get this....IT IS SUPPOSED TO SNOW TOMORROW! Yup! SNOW! It isn't supposed to snow much, but it is supposed to snow enough for it to stick to the grass. BOOOOO! Welcome to Michigan, I guess.

I wish he would learn to "stay" for this picture, but he only "stays" while he is sitting...with a treat in front of him. :)

Last night, we went to Steve's grandpa's 80th birthday party. It was quite the party with about 130 people, a keg, and 2 boxes of wine! :) It was so nice to see all of his family and celebrate with his grandpa. The Woods family had one of Steve's uncle's pigs butchered and another family member roasted the hog. The food was great!

While we were there, Steve's aunt, Jane, gave us our wedding gift (late? yes. worth it? YES!). She told us before the wedding what she was going to make us, but we had NO IDEA how wonderful it would be. She used our pictures from our wedding slideshow and pictures of her own to create a quilt. The result is a wonderful collection of pictures from birth to the wedding. Steve and I both can't stop looking at it.

If you are reading this, Jane. THANK YOU! (Kar, this is what you should do! These could be the 60, $1,000 pieces you make.)

Weekly Update

This week, we have something a little more fun to blog about. We just got back from a trip to Noblesville! Our friends, Karla and Justin, invited Steve and I down to Noblesville for a fun weekend. It was great because our friends, Kate and Jeff (and baby on the way), were able to go up to Noblesville from Jasper, and since Kyle and Owen (Bets was out of town) already live in the Noblesville area, it was like a mini college reunion.

Here is baby Owen. He was the best baby! He had lots of fun watching the guys play pool and getting all the attention from the ladies.

Owen loved leaning against Karla as if she was his throne. :)

I think Steve was teaching Owen to chew on things that aren't food or toys. Watch out, Betsy. The toothpicks will be next!

Kar was sewing so fast that her hands blurred! Karla made me four pillows for our upstairs couch and four for our downstairs couch. She's so crafty. Thanks, Kar! They look great.

Here is the latest Moose picture. He has grown. Now, he is bigger than most peoples' dogs...at 12 weeks. He stayed with Steve's Aunt Margaret and Uncle Darin and their four kids this weekend. They had so much fun that Moose hasn't wanted to play all day...just sleep. He even went to his crate when he got home just so he could nap in peace

Weekly Moose Update

I'm a little embarrassed that our new dog is all I write about on our blog. I am sure to everyone else he isn't as cute and funny as we think he is, but w/o writing about the dog, I wouldn't have much else to blog about. Basically, he is it. Really, our lives haven't changed much since we have him. We just take him with us.

We still go on with our normal lives. Steve is commuting to Kzoo 5 days a week for work, and I love teaching in Marshall. After work, we play with the dog, eat dinner, watch tv, and go to bed. Repeat. Weekends are more fun. Mom and dad came to visit last weekend....to see the dog. :) We had lots of fun with them. Next weekend, we're heading to Justin and Karla's, and the week after that, we are celebrating Steve's grandpa's b-day with the Woods family. Pretty normal stuff, but we like it.

So, here are more Moose pictures. People who see him weekly are always commenting on how much he has grown. People who don't know him ask if he's a lab...haha. One day they will stop asking that.

Here's the weekly growth update. I think he definitely looks bigger than week 1. He's grown a lot this week. He's almost too big for me to carry.

Moose likes to check out the cows on the farm. He's not scared of them. He thinks he's pretty big. :)

Thanks Grandma Jackie for sending the "six-pack money" in the housewarming card. We used to to go to Sidetracks for ice cream. They even have a puppy size cup that is topped with a dog bone. Moose LOVED it.Moose takes a bath once a week (so does Steve). He does so well in the bathtub. I am very happy about this because one day I won't be able to wrestle my 150 lb dog in the bathtub.